The Trib. Again. And Again.

On today's ep-ed page at the Pittsburgh Tribune-Review, Richard Mellon Scaife's braintrust proves, yet again, how easy it is to spin a story by omitting important facts.

First on the CFLs (and no, we're NOT talking about the Argonauts or the Roughriders), they write:

Better late than never? Yes -- but the newfound eagerness of Republicans vying for the House Energy and Commerce Committee's chairmanship to repeal the impending ban on incandescent light bulbs raises another question: What was Congress smoking when it banned them?

Interesting question, no?

Perhaps the braintrust should check out the legislation phasing out the CFLs. And perhaps check with the many Republican Senators who voted for it, including:

• Lamar Alexander of Tennessee
• Sam Brownback of Kansas
• Saxby Chamblis of Georgia
• John Cornyn of Texas
• Chuck Grassley of Iowa
• Mitch McConnell of Kentucky
• David Vitter of Louisiana

And so on. Perhaps they should check with some of the many many many Republican House members who voted for the bill, (and there are too many to list - sorry).

Or perhaps they should check with the Republican President who signed the bill into law in 2007.

Then there's this from the Thursday Wrap:

Another Western Pennsylvania community has buckled to the politically correct Nativity scene crowd. Canonsburg, fearing a lawsuit that taxpayers could not afford, has moved its creche, long displayed outside its borough building, to private property a few blocks away. The late Canonsburg native Perry Como surely is turning in his grave.

It's not "political correctness" my friends. It's unconstitutional. As spelled out in County of Allegheny vs. ACLU which was a Supreme Court case from way back in 1989. According the decision, the Establishment Clause:

[A]t the very least, prohibits government from appearing to take a position on questions of religious belief or from "making adherence to a religion relevant in any way to a person's standing in the political community."

Huh. I thought conservatives respected the Constitution. I thought they believed in what it said.

I guess it depends on what spin they're trying to make.